This invention relates to rotary food processing tools for food processors, and more particularly, to such rotary food cutting tools where the parameters and functions of the cut may be varied by positioning removable and interchangeable cover discs on the tool for changing the parameters and the functioning thereof without the necessity of removing and replacing the entire tool in the food processor.
The present invention is applicable to food processors of the type having a working bowl with a motor driven tool drive means projecting upwards into the bowl with which various selected rotary food processing tools can be engaged to be driven for performing various food processing operations in accordance with the desires of the user. A removable cover is secured over the top of the bowl during use. The cover includes a feed tube having a feed passageway which opens downwardly through the cover into the top of the bowl and food items to be processed are placed in the feed tube and then are pushed down through the feed tube down into the bowl by means of a removable food pusher which is adapted to slide down in the manner of a plunger through the feed tube. The food items are sliced or otherwise processed by the rotating food processing tool in the top of the bowl.
Additional information with respect to such food processors may be had by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,892,365--Verdun; 3,985,304--Sontheimer; 4,198,887--Williams; 4,200,244--Sontheimer; 4,216,917--Clare and Sontheimer; 4,213,570--Jones; 4,226,373--Williams; and 4,227,655--Williams.
Of particular interest to the present invention are the rotary cutting tools which are used for slicing, dicing, cutting, and the like of food items such as potatoes, onions, carrots, cucumbers, celery, cabbage, squash, etc. Such rotary cutting tools have a horizontal disc-like member formed of sheet metal, preferably of stainless steel, which is mounted on an elongated hub extending down in the bowl of the food processor and which is coupled near the lower end to a motor-driven tool drive means in the food processor. A horizontal cutting blade is mounted in an elevated location above an opening in the horizontal disc-like member. The thickness of the cut produced by such a cutting tool is determined by the distance between the elevation of the cutting edge of the cutting blade and the elevation of the top surface of the disc-like member.
In the prior art, in order to change the parameters or the particular cutting function of such a rotary food processing tool the entire tool is removed from the bowl and is replaced by another tool. In other words, to change the cutting function even with respect to the thickness of the slices, the prior art requires that the entire tool must be removed from the motor drive and a new tool be engaged therewith. Accordingly, a multiplicity of separate tools must be on hand for the user, even when the same type of tool is used but the function is changed slightly, for example, for performing a slicing operation in which the food is sliced thicker or thinner. Aside from the expense of providing all of the tools, all of these tools must be stored in the kitchen. In crowded kitchens with little storage space, the need for having on hand a multiplicity of individual tools can cause the user a difficult storage problem.